


Dimmed light

by DownforceSetup



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Pre-Slash
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-06
Updated: 2019-10-06
Packaged: 2020-11-24 19:00:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,346
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20912522
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DownforceSetup/pseuds/DownforceSetup
Summary: Every day ends with a night and every night is followed by a day, some people enjoy every second out in the sunlight and others can't wait for the night to start and hide them in its darkness.Sometimes the happiest people suffer the most and the silent people enjoy their life the fullest.The last few months took a lot out of Daniel and Max tries his best.





	Dimmed light

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't written in anything ages and also never in English, but there is a lack of emotional Dan/supportive Max fics, so I just had to write one myself.

Every day ends with a night and every night is followed by a day, some people enjoy every second out in the sunlight and others can't wait for the night to start and hide them in its darkness.  
Sometimes the happiest people suffer the most and the silent people enjoy their life the fullest.  
You shouldn't judge someone on what they appear to be, it could make life more complicated than it needs to be – something that took Max a long time to realise.

Max always thought that he knew Daniel, not just Daniel Ricciardo the driver, but Daniel how he really is. They went through so much together, even Daniel's sudden change to Renault only seemed to make their friendship stronger. Now, that they weren't so closely looked at while doing anything together, they could finally just be them. 

Max trusted Daniel like he trusted no one else. Dan was his person, the one that meant the most to him, the one he would come to when he knew no one else would understand him. When life was awful, Dan was there. When he felt down for no reason at all, Dan was there. Dan would always make time for him, no matter how unimportant or ridiculous his problems were.

He always thought he was the same for Dan. The safe place no one could ever ruin, where he could be himself. Max would drop everything in an instance for Daniel, without thinking about it for a second.

The message from Nico wasn't something Max was expecting, the two of them never shared more than a few casual conversations. He was confused the first time he read the message, not understanding the meaning behind the letters.

_ These last weeks weren't good for him, he isn't talking to anyone. I haven't seen him smile for real in days. I've done everything I can. He needs you. _

The message was followed by a room number.  
It took Max an embarrassingly long time to realise that this could only be about Dan. He knew that the last races didn't go well for his friend, but he never thought it would take this much out of him.  
Why didn't Max realise something was wrong? Why didn't Daniel talk to him? How could Max be so ignorant that it needed a message from Nico for him to move his ass to Daniel and be there for his friend?

Max was deep in his thoughts when he took his key card and made his way through the hotel.

The sudden appearance of a hand on his shoulder brought him back to reality in front of the room Daniel was staying in. He turned around and was hit with the sight of a worried looking Nico.  
“I've never seen him like this.”, was the only thing he said before he gave Max a key card and left, leaving Max standing alone in the hallway of an overpriced hotel, even more worried now.

He took a deep breath and turned around to knock on the door, but nothing happened. He tried again, but he still couldn't hear anything.  
After another deep breath, he unlocked the door and entered the room, prepared for the worst.  
The sight that greeted him wasn't something he was expecting.  
Daniel was sitting on his bed, watching something on TV, not even looking at he door. Max was confused, everything seemed to be normal.

The younger one closed the door behind him and Dan seemed to realise that he wasn't alone anymore, but his eyes still didn't leave the screen.  
“Nico. For the last time, I'm fine. Give me the damn key back and leave me the fuck alone.”, he finally turned his head around, the surprise on his face clear when he saw that this time it wasn't his teammate who bothered him.

“You're not Nico.”, he still didn't move from his spot on the bed, clearly overwhelmed by Max's presence.  
“No. I'm not.”, was the only thing the younger one could say.

Dan started to smile, but it was the most painful thing Max ever say.  
There wasn't any happiness, there wasn't any joy. There was no anger, no sadness. Dan's face just seemed to be...empty.

Max didn't know what to do. In all the years they've known each other, he never saw the other one looking so tired and hopeless.  
He felt awful.  
Awful, because it hurt so see his friend like this. Awful, because he couldn't even imagine how he felt. Awful, because he didn't realise sooner in how much pain Daniel was.  
But this wasn't about him, the only thing that mattered in this moment, in every moment if he was honest with himself, was Dan.

Daniel was starring at the TV again, Max was now able to see that he didn't watch the show, he just starred and the screen, deep in his thoughts. The empty expression wasn't something that looked right on Daniel's normally so emotional face.

In that moment, Max knew that he would do everything in his power to never see the other one like this again. 

He didn't know how much time had passed, but he finally made his way to the bed and sat down next to Dan, carefully keeping a bit of space between them, not wanting to make the other one uncomfortable.

“Why are you here? You probably have something better to do.”, Dan asked, the sharp tone of his voice sounding unusual in Max's ears.  
“Nothing is more important than you are. I should've been here weeks ago.”, he said silently, deciding that honesty was the only useful thing right now.  
His answer made Daniel finally look at him.  


“I should've realised that you need me. I should've supported you. I don't know why you didn't say anything, but please remember that I'll always be there for you. You are not alone. I'll be there to hear you rant about whatever, I'll be there to celebrate with you, I'll be there to support you in every situation. I'll always be there if you need me. No matter what time, no matter where we are, no matter what teams we are driving for. Nothing will ever be more important for me than you are.”, it was unusual for him to speak so openly about his feelings, it felt weird. Max couldn't remember the last time he was this honest about anything that wasn't racing.  
He wasn't good with his own feelings, he was even worse when it came to the feelings of other people, he just hoped that his words helped his friend and that he didn't fuck everything up even more.

Tears started rolling down Daniel's face and Max sat closer to his friend, carefully putting an arm around him, which was met with two strong arms around him. Dan pressed his face against Max's chest, now fully sobbing into his hoodie.  
At first, he wasn't sure if that was something good, but when he put his own arms around the other one, softly brushing through his hair with one hand and keeping him close with the other, he knew that for the first time in a while, he did something right.

Daniel didn't seem to calm down and it panicked Max a little. He didn't know what to do or to say, he wanted to help, but he didn't know how. It hurt so much to see him like this. 

Daniel was the light in every room he entered, he made the darkness bearable. He could make the darkest moments bright again and make you forget about all your problems.  
Max wanted to be his light right now, but he didn't know how, so he started to soothingly whisper everything that came to his mind in Dutch, glad that he didn't have to think about the right words.

Neither of them knew how long they stayed in this position, neither of them cared. 

Slowly, the tears became less, the breathing became calmer, but the arms around him only seemed to hold him tighter.


End file.
